Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building

The building was designed by architects Stephen H. Horton and Wendell Locke of Locke, Wright and Associates and constructed by J.W. Bateson using reinforced concrete in 1977[2] at a cost of $14.5 million. The building, named for federal judge Alfred P. Murrah, an Oklahoma native, opened on March 2, 1977.[3]

By the 1990s, the building contained regional offices for the Social Security Administration, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the United States Secret Service, the Department of Veterans Affairs vocational rehabilitation counseling center, the Drug Enforcement Administration (D.E.A.), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF). It also contained recruiting offices for the US Military. It housed approximately 550 employees.[4] It also housed America's Kids, a children's day care center.

In October 1983, members of the Christian militia group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (CSA), including founder James Ellison and Richard Snell plotted to park "a van or trailer in front of the Federal Building and blow it up with rockets detonated by a timer."[5] While the CSA was building a rocket launcher to attack the building, the ordnance accidentally detonated in a member's hands. The CSA took this as divine intervention and called off the planned attack. Convicted of murder in an unrelated case, Richard Snell was executed on April 19, 1995, the same day the bombing of the federal building was carried out, after Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas declined to hear further appeal.[6]

Murrah Building during the recovery effort

At 9:02 a.m. local time on April 19, 1995, a Ryder rental truck, containing approximately 7,000 pounds (3175 kg) of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, nitromethane, and diesel fuel was detonated in front of the building, destroying a third of it and causing severe damage to several other buildings located nearby. As a result, 168 people were killed, including 19 children, and over 800 others were injured.[7] It remains the deadliest domestic terrorist attack, with the most property damage, on American soil.

Timothy McVeigh, an Army veteran, was found guilty of the attack in a jury trial and sentenced to death. He was executed in 2001. A co-conspirator, Terry Nichols, is serving multiple life sentences in a federal prison. Third and fourth subjects, Michael Fortier and his wife, Lori, assisted in the plot. They testified against both McVeigh and Nichols in exchange for a 12-year prison term for Michael and immunity for Lori. Michael was released into the witness protection program in January 2006.[8]

McVeigh said that he bombed the building on the second anniversary of the Waco siege in 1993 to retaliate for U.S. government actions there and at the siege at Ruby Ridge. Before his execution, he said that he did not know a day care center was in the building and that, had he known, "It might have given me pause to switch targets."[1] The FBI said that he scouted the interior of the building in December 1994 and likely knew of the day care center before the bombing.[9]

Many works of art were in the building when it was destroyed in the Oklahoma City bombing.[10] The Oklahoma City National Memorial displays art that survived the bombing. Lost works are as follows:

• Sky Ribbons: An Oklahoma Tribute, 1978 fiber sculpture by Gerhardt Knodel
• Columbines at Cascade Canyon, photograph by Albert D. Edgar
• Winter Scene, photograph by Curt Clyne
• Morning Mist, photograph by David Halpern
• Charon's Sentinels, photograph by David Halpern
• Soaring Currents, sisal and rayon textile by Karen Chapnick
• Monolith, porcelain sculpture by Frank Simons
• Through the Looking Glass, wool textile by Anna Burgress
• Palm Tree Coil, bronze sculpture by Jerry McMillan.

An untitled acrylic sculpture by Fred Eversley was severely damaged, but survived the blast.

The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was one of the deadliest acts of terrorism in American history.

Murrah Building during the cleanup and demolition operation

Rescue and recovery efforts were concluded at 11:50 pm on May 1, with the bodies of all but three victims recovered.[11] For safety reasons, the remains were to be demolished shortly afterward. However, McVeigh's attorney, Stephen Jones, called for a motion to delay the demolition until the defense team could examine the site in preparation for the trial.[12] More than a month after the bombing, at 7:01 am on May 23, the remains were demolished.[11] The final three bodies, those of two credit union employees and a customer, were recovered.[13] For several days after the remains' demolition, trucks hauled 800 tons of debris a day away from the site. Some of it was used as evidence in the conspirators' trials, incorporated into parts of memorials, donated to local schools, or sold to raise funds for relief efforts.[12]

Several remnants of the building stand on the site of the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The plaza (on what was once its south side) has been incorporated into the memorial; the original flagpole is still in use. The east wall (within the building's footprint) is intact, as well as portions of the south wall. The underground parking garage survived the blast and is used today, but is guarded and closed to the public.[14]

Consideration was given to not replacing the Murrah Building and to renting office space for agencies affected. Ultimately, the General Services Administration broke ground on a replacement building in 2001 which was completed in 2003. The new 185,000 square foot building was designed by Ross Barney Architects of Chicago, Illinois, with Carol Ross Barney as the lead designer.[15] Constructed on a two city block site, one block north and west of the former site, the new building's design maximized sustainable design and workplace productivity initiatives. Security design was paramount to the Federal employees and its neighbors. Secure design was achieved based on the GSA's current standards for secure facilities including blast resistant glazing. Structural design resists progressive collapse. Building mass, glazing inside the courtyard, and bollards help to maintain a sense of openness and security. The art in architecture component of the building incorporates a water feature that acts as an additional security barrier.[16]

Media related to Oklahoma City bombing at Wikimedia Commons

• Photos of the Murrah building before the bombing